Accommodation

Dmartin22196

How yas all!
Just wondering is there any lads here going into 1st year who would be thinking of gettin an apartment for the year? would like to get student accommodation close enough to the college but would be looking for a roommate aswell! let me know what the story is on this thread! any students at the college know what the story is with accommodation as in when to start looking, maybe yous could throw in your opinions. thanks!

Clandestine

You had better start looking fast, I had a look at Croi Oige a few days ago but they were full up. Buckley's weren't and I'm sorting out the accommodation for me over there right now. They only had 2 spots left when I checked. I had a small look at some apartments too but Buckley's seems to suit my needs, as it is close to the college and looked like a decent place to stay.

Nidge_Weasel

kilmacoo student accommodation http://athloneaccommodation.ie/ just put my deposit down Wednesday, only a third full as of yet. Just a minute walk from Buckleys apartments, so nearly as close to the college as can be got too!

Dmartin22196

Thanks for that mate!

niall.d

Avoid Kilmacoo!! went there last year and still havent recieved deposit back!! apartment was in perfect condition.... first half of the year up till christmas there was no heating and it was so cold we could see our breath, the internet had twelve people to a modem and was ****e at the best of times, and not to mention the mould!i know you get mould everywhere but this was terrible in some rooms! the walls and ceilings were black!! got word that 75 quid was being taken from our deposite too which means that over the house he took the best of 1000 euro to pay off the overflow on the electricity which has to be complete bull because we were tuyrning off all plugs and turning the oven off when not being used and everything! oh and we were paying for cable tv and were only getting saorview!! the apartments look great at the start but soon after moving in it went totally downhill!! avoid avoid avoid!!

Dmartin22196

Thanks for the heads up Niall! I was down in Athlone this morning and Kilmacoo was the first place we seen, in all fairness it does look nice when you're down there and the landlord seems sound enough at the time, we were seriously considering taking it but i was suspicious why there were so many rooms going in it. I got talking to a member of the student union in the college and he basically said the same about kilmacoo, while not trying to put me off it! He picked something out of his obviously extensive memory bank of the area and got me a contact number for the very last apartment going in wellmount. It looked well enough and the student union member recommended it. So i put my deposit on it this morning thankfully. Does anyone have any feedback or did they hear any stories about Wellmount?

niall.d

wellmount is probably the most secure of all the places.... need a code to get in the gate and security all night.... was only in it once myself and it seemed pretty nice

Nidge_Weasel

niall.d wrote: »

Avoid Kilmacoo!! went there last year and still havent recieved deposit back!! apartment was in perfect condition.... first half of the year up till christmas there was no heating and it was so cold we could see our breath, the internet had twelve people to a modem and was ****e at the best of times, and not to mention the mould!i know you get mould everywhere but this was terrible in some rooms! the walls and ceilings were black!! got word that 75 quid was being taken from our deposite too which means that over the house he took the best of 1000 euro to pay off the overflow on the electricity which has to be complete bull because we were tuyrning off all plugs and turning the oven off when not being used and everything! oh and we were paying for cable tv and were only getting saorview!! the apartments look great at the start but soon after moving in it went totally downhill!! avoid avoid avoid!!

Ohhh ****.

niall.d

sorry to be the bringer of bad news nudge... what apartment/room number did you get?

niall.d

**nidge

Nidge_Weasel

niall.d wrote: »

sorry to be the bringer of bad news nudge... what apartment/room number did you get?

Dont even know yet, hoping to move in next week some time, as I'l be at the electric picnic week before college starts, so want to be moved in and ready. Do the apartments differ in how terrible they are or something?

niall.d

well like you said it does depend on which one.... i was in number 2 which was down the very end on the top floor..... thats was probably the best kept apartment only for how much mould was in the bedrooms.... other than the problems i mentioned, all the top floor apartments have really high ceilings so even when the heating is on (which was only for about an hour a time three times a day) all the heat would go straight to the top and you are sitting there like nothing was happening..... but next door a lad from my course was upstairs and the flooring in that apartment looked about 50 years old..... some apartments have wood framed couches and others have full cushioned ones...... the apartments vary so much so i cant speak for all of them but i can say that even though they seem visually appealling they arent great..... hopefully they step it up a little this year.

Nidge_Weasel

ohh god, well when I was there, they seemed to be full on painting, cleaning up etc, only saw inside the bottom floor of the first house you come to. Flashy new enough looking LCD TV, big enough bedrooms and one of the big reasons I went with them, they said they were only about a third full, unlike everywhere else were you were being told you were looking at the last or one of the last two apartments :rolleyes:, so it seemed that the piss wasnt being taken.

Another reason was the fact that many of the other places were looking for rent in two installments, these guys were ok with monthly. Which is what I wanted, i.e. Things dont get fixed, f**k your rent so!:p

Really just hope it goes alright now!

niall.d

yeah i actually called up from carlow about a month back to talk to the caretaker and see what the story was with the rent and they were painting but thats because over the course of last year it was egged, some little ****s from willow got buckets of mud and threw it at some of the apartments and during rag week two of the apartments were completely trashed so there was dire need of it being dealt with..... are they black tv's bolted down to the table? if so then they have been there a while... ask him to show you the digital tv next time you are down..... then when he cant get it up due to it not being there just make him fix it up for ya....we moved into the apartment last year and there were hoards of pots and pans but only 1 fork and three spoons.... the second you move in make a list and anything you want, whether it be a chair or a new fridge put it on the list cause we were left last year with hardly any delf and an oven that had a mind of its own(literally took me 2 hours to cook chips one night and then in the last 5 minutes it burnt them to a crisp)..... i know im probably harping on about the little things a bit too much now but i just think that they should cover basic things like a working/clean oven.... p.s. tell the caretaker if your oven is dirty or room is moldy, he hires in cleaners to do it for you... but sure look anyway, i got through a year there and im still alive but even though it wasnt the best place to start i still have so many good memories there.... the craic is mad in athlone no matter where you are as long as its not the back of willow :P good luck with the course anyway!! my advice for next year though would be to try rockbrook or gate lodge and if they are full glenn abhainn.... they seem to me to be the better of the accommodation near the college! and listen if ya need a helping hand with anything then pm me on this! ill be staying in rockbrook this year anyway so you can have a look at them that way! all the best man!

NiallDoherty

Anyone know of anywhere still available? Thanks

niall.d

a few of my friends have tried rock brook, gatelodge and glenn abhainn..... all seem to be full.... try valleycourt or heathview court.... they are fairly nice places..... if not i hear that kilmacoo is only about half full

NiallDoherty

All seem to be full, the guy in kilmacoo gave me a number for someone who has rooms available in willow cresent... Might have to take it

niall.d

willow crescent is run by the same lad that own kilmacoo as far as i know... or maybe im thinking of a different place.... avoid going too far into the back of willow is the general rule

NiallDoherty

This is on the first street in, hopefully it's all right... thanks for the help

niall.d

there is a row of houses in willow just as you drive in the entrance on the right.... the guy from kilmacoo owns a load of them.... they are decent houses... a friend of mine was in there last year... not too well kitted out but they would do like

Dmartin22196

Just a heads up that I was told to avoid anything with Willow in it at all costs and I was told only to go to Kilmacoo as a last resort!

niall.d

from what i can gather, kilmacoo and willow are nearly all thats left..... unless you start to look closer the town.... wellmount is about a 10 minute walk from the college.... usually the foreign student go there but 2 of my mates were there last year and it was grand.... closer to town after nights out too and rarely any stir around them

NiallDoherty

You have a number for kilmacoo, niall? The guy I rang had none left

redtapestyl

How much of a walk to the college is Retreat Park?

niall.d

0879595468....... thats the caretaker cause the landlord usually doesnt deal with tenants...... and redtapestyl, i havent a clue where retreat park is..... best bet is google maps it and gauge the distance...... wellmount is 10minutes walk so check see if its further or closer than that

Scrappylad

http://www.daft.ie/searchsharing.daft?id=727791

someone have a look at this lads....they're good apartments its where im stayin! if there still available i dont know.

NiallDoherty

Scrappylad wrote: »

http://www.daft.ie/searchsharing.daft?id=727791

someone have a look at this lads....they're good apartments its where im stayin! if there still available i dont know.

They're gone, don't know why they feel the need to keep them advertised...

redtapestyl

NiallDoherty wrote: »

They're gone, don't know why they feel the need to keep them advertised...

Did you ring them? The ad was renewed just 3 days ago, I'm gonna call them tomorrow to check.

Dmartin22196

redtapestyl wrote: »

Did you ring them? The ad was renewed just 3 days ago, I'm gonna call them tomorrow to check.

Let me know how you get on with that, just out of interest!